Tips for Cooking with Red and White Wines

Wine is one of God’s best gifts to mankind. A glass or two – or even three – of good red wine can take away many a care, yes? But there is more to wine than enjoying it as a drink. Include it as a regular ingredient to your cooking, and you will be even more delighted!

Here are some excellent ways you can incorporate wine into your dishes.

Add flavor to fish

I love fish. However, there are some kinds of fish that are rather bland in taste. One easy way to add flavor is to use butter, but of course, that does not help with the calories, does it? Instead of using butter, why not add a splash or two of wine instead?

A good example is to use wine to poach fish. Instead of using oil or butter to pan fry a nice slab of white fish, some red wine and salt will do the trick. And rather well, in fact.

You can also add red wine to fish before baking it. You can wrap the fish in foil before putting it in the oven. The result will be flaky and yet moist fish that will not add to your weight worries!

Use wine in your marinades

Marinating meat, chicken, and seafood is a surefire way to ensure that your food is packed with flavor. Whether you are going to grill, fry, or bake the ingredients, marinating them beforehand is an excellent practice. If you want a different kind of flavor to come out, try adding wine to your favorite marinade. You won’t regret it!

Oh, and there is another plus to using wine in your marinades. The acidic property of wine actually helps in making the meat more tender, and of course, that is always a welcome thing.

Replace water with wine

I am not saying stop drinking water! A good practice for more flavor, however, is to replace water in recipes with wine. Whatever your favorite recipe may be, if it calls for some water, try using your favorite wine instead. You won’t help but notice the difference! (Editor’s note: check out this recipe post…it uses an ENTIRE bottle of wine and tastes amazing: Beef Stew + Syrah = Delicious!)

Don’t go cheapskating

Here’s an important thing to remember when you are out shopping for wine to be used for cooking: do not settle for the really cheap bottles or cartons of wine. Think about the kind of wine that you like drinking. Wouldn’t you want that in your food instead of some low quality wine? While the alcohol content does evaporate during the cooking process, the flavor is imparted in the dish. Hence, you want to use wine that satisfies your palate.

Do not be afraid to try out different things when using wine when cooking. As said above, the alcohol evaporates, so there really is no danger of overdoing it. And if you end up not liking the flavor, you can always try again!

About Allison Evans: Allison gets excited over a good wine and food pairing any time. She also likes using wine when cooking, and likes sharing her adventures with her readers. She has this number one tip for fellow food bloggers: do not hesitate to promote your blog and share your passion!

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